KUALA LUMPUR: About 58 per cent of electrical products in the Malaysian market last year were of substandard quality, said Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dr Ong Kian Meng.
He said the electrical appliances were not certified and were not in compliance with the Malaysian standard.
“This figure not only represents the dangers posed by these products but also translates to a loss for the country when lives are put in jeopardy,” he told the media after launching the safety awareness campaign on SIRIM-ST approved electrical appliances here yesterday.
SIRIM Bhd’s unit, SIRIM QAS International Sdn Bhd and its partners – Energy Commission, Malaysian Electrical Appliances Distributors Association and the Federation of Malaysian Electrical Appliances Dealers’ Association – have embarked on a nine-month long campaign to increase the awareness on the importance of SIRIM-ST approved appliances among consumers, manufacturers and importers.
Ong said the campaign would help to educate the public on their responsibilities to ensure that these products do not make it into their homes, adding that he hoped at least half of those who own uncertified appliances would be aware of the danger of such products by the end of the campaign.
Apart from safety awareness, he said the campaign also aimed to protect the manufacturers and to ensure that all distributors – both online and offline – provide good quality products to the consumers.
He said the market has been flooded with uncertified products amid the surge in e-commerce activities, while the price point was another contributing factor.
“For now, we do not want to put any unnecessary restrictions on e-commerce activities to control people from bringing in such product, but rather, we want to empower consumers to make the right choice,” he said.
Meanwhile, SIRIM’s chairman, Tan Sri Tajuddin Ali said as e-commerce enabled suppliers to sell directly to consumers – thus bypassing importers – regulators would have to think about ways to police this to better protect the consumers.
He added that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has already come in strong by ensuring that products brought into Malaysia were SIRIM-MCMC certified. — Bernama